But it faces rivals from Qatar to China
Somalia
Dubai-based DP World is expanding its operations in Somaliland as part of a plan to turn the breakaway region into a major trade hub. Though Somaliland has relinquished commercial power, it may gain political weight.
Kenya
United Arab Emirates logistics major Dubai Ports World (DP World) has been caught up in the heat of the political campaigns in Kenya ahead of the August 9 election after a March 2022 deal with Nairobi to run three Kenyan ports became public last week.
The Kenya Kwanza coalition led by Deputy President William Ruto accused President Uhuru Kenyatta of clandestinely trying to auction the country’s assets, claims the government has rejected.
The news of the deal came three months after President Kenyatta visited the UAE. According to documents circulated widely, on March 1, Kenya entered into a concession deal with DP World and later, on March 10, a UAE delegation visited Kenya to review the status of the plan.
While denying that the deal was secret, National Treasury Cabinet Secretary Ukur Yatani said DP World FZE offered to develop, operate, manage and expand transport logistics services in four Kenyan facilities – the ports of Mombasa, Lamu and Kisumu, and the dry port in Naivasha.
The agreement, if implemented (Mr Yatani says it’s up to the next administration), will see the Dubai ports operator or its subsidiaries run at least four berths at the port of Mombasa, the three completed berths at the Lamu port and three special economic zones.
“This is part of the government’s long-term plan, and the Lamu Port-South Sudan-Ethiopia Transport (Lapsset) project has been with us for more than 10 years, which is why we are bringing more partners under a public-private partnership to develop it further. That is why we are encouraging a partnership with renowned port developing partners,” Mr Yatani said.
Senegal and Egypt
By Antony Sguazzin (Bloomberg) DP World and CDC Group have formed a partnership to develop ports in Africa and committed to spending $1.72 billion on infrastructure over the next few years.
DP World, which is based in Dubai and is one of the world’s biggest port operators, will invest $1 billion in facilities including in Dakar in Senegal, Ain Sokhna in Egypt, and Berbera in Somaliland. CDC, a U.K.-based development finance group, will initially contribute $320 million and has committed an additional $400 million over the next few years.
The partnership, along with the modernization and expansions at the ports, is expected to boost trade in the three territories, as well as further inland in Mali in West Africa and Ethiopia in the Horn of Africa, the companies said in a statement on Tuesday. They intend spending about $1 billion on the port in Dakar alone.
“In the short term, it’s about enhancing the capacity of these three countries,” Nick O’Donohoe, CDC’s chief executive officer, said in an interview. “In the longer term, it is about building out further ports infrastructure in other countries, other regions.”
Trade, Exports
The harbor in Dakar is exclusively a container port that can process 900,000 twenty-foot equivalent units, or TEU, a year. Sokhna, Egypt’s main Red Sea port and its gateway to the rest of Africa, and Berbera are primarily used to ship containers but have some bulk-goods facilities, and have an annual capacity of 950,000 TEU and 150,000 TEU respectively. By comparison, the continent’s biggest container port in the eastern South African city of Durban, can process 3.6 million TEU a year.
In addition to building a new facility at Ndayane, near Dakar, to expand the port’s capacity, the companies plan to improve logistics at Berbera and significantly increase capacity at Sokhna, which is undergoing a $520 million expansion, O’Donohoe said. They are also considering investing in inland ports in landlocked countries.
Trade facilitated by the ports will support 5 million jobs across the affected economies, create 138,000 jobs in the expansion phase, and improve access to goods for 35 million people, the companies said in the statement.
CDC will own a minority stake in the operating structure of the three ports, O’Donohoe said, declining to be more specific on the partnership.
The development finance institution invests about $2.5 billion a year, of which 60% goes to Africa, he said. Other investments include power and telecommunications infrastructure.
By Antony Sguazzin © 2021 Bloomberg L.P.
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